


Drunk

by M3zzaTh3M3z



Category: Widdershins (Webcomic)
Genre: Crushes, Drunkenness, F/M, Fluff, Pre-Relationship, Snippets, bentober19, incomplete fic, prompt: drunk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:20:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26735785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/M3zzaTh3M3z/pseuds/M3zzaTh3M3z
Summary: Eliza hosts a Christmas party.
Relationships: Eliza Swift/Ben Thackerey
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3
Collections: Widdershins Fanworks Month Pieces





	Drunk

**Author's Note:**

> This was one of my pieces for Bentober last year. Here's the explanation note I included when I posted it on tumblr:
> 
> "You know how I joke about Ben/Eliza all the time? Well I also have a super detailed idea of a slowburn fic I would write of them, and this is the start of a scene from that. Basically in this fic Ben and Eliza become friends when he first moves to Widdershins shortly before No Rest and have a sort of love/hate thing where they debate/argue magic and anchor stuff all the time. Eliza has a Christmas party with the 4th Anchor Society and general friends so invites Ben and, through him, Wolfe and Mal, though Mal doesn’t go. Ben’s been crushing on her about a month at this point, and they’ve been friends maybe 10 months? It’s the Christmas between No Rest and Green-Eyed Monster. I’m sorry. Please enjoy."

Everything is very far away, Ben reflects as he sits slumped in a chair on the edge of the party. It’s all very far away, and he knows it’s noisy but the noise doesn’t quite make it through his ears. He’s in a bubble. A warm little bubble on the edge of the party, watching the blurs he vaguely remembers must be Eliza’s friends swirl around as a violin plays, while he sits and slowly works his way through the drinks that somehow end up in his hands because he’s not very good at parties if he’s honest, but nobody seems to mind him sitting and being quiet, not even Eliza who invited him, so that’s good. Everything’s good.

“It is my fault, I should not have left him alone so long,” a familiar voice says, from somewhere slightly nearer than everything else. It’s Wolfe, Ben realises after a second. That’s right, Wolfe was with him.

“Is he alright?” someone else asks, a woman, unfamiliar. 

“Ah, probably? Ben? Ben, are you listening to me?” Something touches his shoulder lightly and Ben blinks. Wolfe is now sat next to him, though his face is hard to focus on. “Are you alright, my friend?”

Ben nods, up-down-up-down, but it starts to feel bad so he stops just as suddenly. “Quite alright, yes, why?”

“Well, you have not moved for about an hour, you did not notice the young lady trying to talk to you, and I am afraid those were some very mixed up words you just said.”

“Nonsense,” Ben replies. He doesn’t mix up his words. He’s always most precise. To prove it, he says it again, carefully pronouncing every syllable. “Nuh-on-su-en-se.” There’s something funny about the sound and he giggles. “I’m fine.”

Wolfe sighs and takes hold of Ben’s arms or shoulders or something and now he’s on his feet, which isn’t really what he wants right now but Wolfe’s still half holding him up so he can’t sit back down, and even if both his colleagues are foolhardy, irresponsible and ridiculous, at least Wolfe usually has good reason for doing something. “I think it is time we are heading home now. We must find Ms Swift and thank her for having us, and say our farewells. Can you see her anywhere?”

“Nuh-uh. Can’t see anything.” It’s true, most of the night has been a hazy mix of shapes and colours, even now he’s identifying Wolfe more by voice and size. 

He senses rather than feels Wolfe turn back to him. “Ach je, where are your glasses?”

Ben brings one hand to his face. Oh, that’s right. They’re gone. No wonder he can’t see much. “Don’t know.”

“Tsch, you are worse than Mal! Ah, Ms Swift is by the door, perhaps she has seen them.”

They walk over, except it’s more like Wolfe walks over and Ben tries his best to because he really does want to go over to Eliza, Eliza’s nice, but somebody’s made the floor all uneven so actually it’s a bit tricky. He gets there somehow. 

Eliza is wearing - her dress is - it’s all - ugh, it’s no use. Despite Vee’s best efforts, Ben knows nothing of women’s fashion at the best of times, but he remembers Eliza’s excitement the day she bought the new dress. She’d said a lot of words that had meant nothing to him then and even less now, and then he’d politely said he was sure it would look very nice, and she’d said of course it would, she would be wearing it, but she’d beamed as she said it and then Ben had pretended there was something very interesting about his teacup until she’d brought up something else. All he can tell about her dress right now is it’s green and the skirt is nicely swishy (Eliza likes swishy skirts, she always says they make everything more dramatic) and she looks very, very pretty.

Ben’s not used to finding people pretty. Even less so to finding someone so pretty he gets so nervous he doesn’t know what to say and can’t look at them properly and blushes if they smile at him and oh no, he needs to get off this train of thought because he’s pretty sure Eliza and Wolfe have been talking for about a minute and he hasn’t taken in a word. 

“Yeah, I’m glad you could come along. Been wantin’ to meet ya, since I hear so much from him,” Eliza’s saying.

Wolfe laughs, a little nervously. “Good things, I am hoping?”

“Nah, sounds like you’re absolute nightmares. But it’s good he’s got you two.”

“They’re not always nightmares,” Ben feels compelled to add. Though perhaps Eliza has good grounds for thinking that, he supposes she does usually get the worst tales of the week.

They both turn to him in surprise and Eliza gives a wide, gap-toothed grin. “Finally joining us, eh? How’re you doing?”

Ben frowns, unsure how to answer the question. He feels good and fine and happy because he’s talking to her, but Wolfe seems insistent he’s not fine and he supposes he has actually had quite a lot to drink, so maybe he’s not the best judge after all. “I’ve lost my glasses,” he says instead, because that’s a lot less subjective. 

“No you didn’t,” Eliza says. She digs into a pocket somewhere in her skirt folds and pulls something out before pressing it into his hand. His glasses. “I took them off you, remember? You kept dropping them and then Charles’ nearly stomped on them with his big clumsy feet - yes, you were meant to hear that! - so I said I’d keep them safe for a while.”

“Oh.” Now she says it, that does all sound a little familiar. Ben puts his glasses back on and is glad to see the world is much less fuzzy than before, just a little swirly still, but Eliza is even prettier now he can see her and the burst of shyness that brings makes him trip over his next words a little. “T-thank you, Ms Swift…”

Eliza rolls her eyes and folds her arms and Ben instantly regrets whatever has made her annoyed with him. “Not this again, c’mon Ben. Remember our chat yesterday? I said I wouldn’t call you ‘wizard’ and ‘kiddo’ in front of your friends, and in return you’d drop the formality for one night? We’re friends, right? Just call me Eliza.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading I hope you enjoyed :)


End file.
